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Chapter 4.

Oh traveling companions of the ala ʻūlili, aloha to you all. Let us look again to the journey of those two old men from Waipiʻo the place where Kaleiokū and ʻUmi were living at Waipunalei. According to Abraham Fornander, "they ascended the cliff of Waipiʻo, and arriving at Kukuihaele, they continued to Kapulena and rested there. On the next day, they continued their ascent, passing Honokaʻa, and arriving at Pāʻauhau where they again rested. From there, they went to Kalōpā, Kaumoali, and at Kemau rested again.

On the fourth of their nights on the trail, Kaleiokū heard some people speaking the names of those two old men. "The old men, Nunu and Kamai [that is Kakohe, according to Kamakau and Fornander (Writer's Note)] are traveling here on the pathway, because pono has been lost." Kaleiokū then asked the people speaking to him, "When with they be arriving?" Those listening to him responded, "Tomorrow will pass, and the day after they will arrive." Kaleiokū again asked of those people, "What is the reason for their journey?" They then responded, "To come and see your hānai, and whether he is pono or not, because, their hānai, Hakau, has adopted hatred towards them."

Thus, Kaleiokū and ʻUmi heard the reason for those old men traveling to see them. Kaleiokū boasted with great joy, for it was Kaleiokū's thought that the ʻāina would come under the control of ʻUmi, his aliʻi, because Kaleioku was a kahuna kilokilo, an expert in observation and forecasting, and it was for that reason that he grasped ʻUmi and cared for him.

Illustration by Haley Kailiehu, 2014.

On the next day, that is the fifth night, Kaleiokū and their people prepared food, fish, pork, chicken, and ʻawa. All was well-supplied and well-prepared before their eyes. Kaleiokū, however, was crafty in his work. So that the ʻāina would come under the control of ʻUmi, and so that pono would come to him, this was the art of his craft. Kaleiokū commanded one person, "Go cut pieces of firewood, to the amount equal to that of which two people could grab and surround themselves completely with. And the length of each being one anana (length between tips of finger with arms spread open) and an iwilei (length from collar to tip of finger with arm extended). When you return chop them into smaller pieces and bundle them up, just as you had done in grabbing them, and that will become one pile." And to some other he said, "That ʻawa plant standing there, dig completely around it and the root ball." And to some others he requested they get the pig, and tied it up tightly. All was well-fashioned and immediately prepared that was sought out by their people.

These things were prepared beforehand by Kaleiokū so that ʻUmi would be able to complete these tasks before those old men. To light the imu, then ʻUmi would just need to fetch the bundle of firewood, chop them up smaller, and scatter a little here and there. And then the old men would call ʻUmi a strong person, as he would also have prepared the ʻawa root, and the pig the had been tied up.

Kaleiokū looked around, before their people he said, all is well-fashioned and prepared. In the evening of that fifth night, Kaleiokū told his aliʻi, "Oh Chief! Tomorrow is the day that your ʻāina will be secured to you. Listen to me, oh aliʻi. If you heed these words of mine, tomorrow, the ʻāina will be secured by you, and if you do not heed them, then these bones will not live through you. They will be left to dry out in the sun." It then became apparent in the eyes of the aliʻi, that he should heed his words. So Kaleiokū spoke his words before ʻUmi, his aliʻi, "Oh chief, we shall sleep tonight, and when the late of night passes before dawn, I will ascend to the farm patches of ours with all our our people. No one will stay back with you. You will be the only one remaining with your wahine. If the two old men arrive tomorrow morning, and they ask of my name, you will know that it is them. Go and prepare for them, all the things that have been prepared beforehand for them, the food, and anything that they should want, you will give to them, when they are delighted by the ʻawa.

ʻUmi, his aliʻi, agreed to his command. When the late of that night passed before dawn, Kaleiokū and all of their people ascended the uplands. And when the light of the sun shown on that day, all of the people had gone into the uplands, leaving only ʻUmi and his two wahine.

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Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili is a community-based nonprofit organization. Our mission is to re-establish the systems that sustain our community through educational initiatives and land-based practices that cultivate abundance, regenerate responsibilities, and promote collective health and well-being.